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lunedì 12 maggio 2014

Air Force to be booted out of Caserta Palace

Aviators to leave 'soon' says Franceschini

(ANSA)
- Rome, May 12 - Ending a decades-long row on the condition of one of
the jewels of southern Italy, Italy's culture minister said Monday
the Air Force would be kicked out of Caserta's Royal Bourbon Palace
to make sure recent episodes of damage and disrepair don't recur.

Italy's answer to Versailles and the largest palace built in Europe
in the 18th century, the Reggia di Caserta "is finally going to
be freed of its awkward Italian-aviator occupants", Culture
Minister Dario Franceschini said. "I have just reached a deal
with Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti according to which the Air
Force will soon leave the Reggia di Caserta," Franceschini said.

The
culture minister observed that, in the face of years of criticism of
the "looming presence" of the military there, "only
20-25% of the Reggia is actually occupied by the Air Force". But
he acknowledged that now "a single management team" would
have to take over the running of the historic site near Naples, which
has been plagued with upkeep problems in recent years. On Thursday a
large hole opened up in the roof of the 18th-century UNESCO-listed
Bourbon Palace of Caserta, spurring a new round of complaints about
the military presence there.

The
palace that once hosted the kings of Naples and Sicily, one of the
lesser-known splendours of southern Italy, has been dogged with
upkeep woes, and its image was dented further last June when drug
pushers were arrested just outside its magnificent grounds.